Wednesday, August 6, 2008

On the road, kinda

We rode our fully loaded bikes approximately 5 miles out of Jasper (pictured above) to a campground today. We will begin our ride down the Icefields Parkway tomorrow, riding for 3 days or so to Lake Louise. We'll camp or hostel along the way. The days are relatively short, miles-wise, to leave time to stop for the sights along the way or hike when we reach our campsite. I'm pretty happy that the days are short, to be honest, because I am seriously lacking in the gear department. I have a standard triple with a 27 cog in the rear, but was dangerously close to using the granny on the gentle uphill to our campground. I estimate that my bike is about 70 pounds when loaded with gear, food and water. I have a feeling that some grinding is in my future!
I took a nap rather than hiking today, so no grand panoramas were viewed today. I'm shopping now (wine and other necessities have been procured. Wine is not something I thought we'd be carrying on a bike trip but I defer to Sue and Bill's expertise in this regard!). Sue and Bill hiked to the top of one of the local peaks, also served by a gondola.
I'll post again in a couple if days when we have cell coverage again.